A Price To Pay
by Sakura Diaries
Summary: The Black Cat once saved Mikan Sakura from dangerous bandits. Unbeknownst to Mikan, it was a debt waiting to be paid. Now it’s payback time. Is Mikan willing to pay the price for her life? NatsuMi ON HOLD.
1. Prologue

**A Price to Pay**

**By Sakura Diaries**

**Prologue**

Sakura Mikan's eyes shone with unshed tears as she felt the bouncing of the wagon none too gently. She knew her body was already bruised and bloody. Her captors seemed not to care that she was becoming more and more battered with the way they were handling the wagon but then again, that was what should be expected. They were heartless creatures. To think that they kidnapped her for just the hell of it – something that they felt like doing since obviously, she wasn't rich nor was she something that should be looked twice at.

Going to the woods that afternoon was not something she had done because of impulses. The woods were dangerous but she needed to go find herbs for the patients. As an apprentice of the village doctor, she was given the task to gather herbs every once in a while. She thought today was just like any other day but as fate would have it, nothing was supposed to.

She let out a small hiss of pain when the wagon suddenly came to a halt, giving her body another harsh hit. She was now starting to wonder why she still wasn't on the verge of passing out. Her body seemed to be made with stronger material than what she had originally thought.

"Get out of the way." One of the bandits who kidnapped her growled angrily but there was a hint of fear in his voice that made Mikan looked her captors. They were all men, in their thirties and heavily built. Their numbers were at least twenty if she had counted correctly and some had wagons while others had horses. She was now heavily confused as to why most of them looked apprehensive. They were men who can handle themselves.

"Gladly." A cool voice made Mikan's head snapped to where all of the bandits were looking. She saw a man with raven hair with a face hidden beneath a mask. Instantly her insides fell cold, she knew that man and the stories that accompany his existence where not pretty. Not pretty at all.

Mikan could tell that the men were shocked. It wasn't everyday humans go unscratched when meeting with the infamous Black Cat. Actually, she never really heard of anyone who directly met the Black Cat in the flesh and lived to tell the tale. Only gossip and some very, very lucky onlookers informed everyone that a masked young man was someone to be feared.

"Go-good." The man who seemed to be the leader stuttered as he regained from his stupor. "It saved us the time from kicking your ass. You're lucky kid." The leader added in an attempt to save his wounded pride in front of his fellow bandits. But he immediately regretted it when the young man suddenly appeared behind him and held a knife to his neck.

"Now what were you saying?" Even if Mikan couldn't see his face, she knew he had on a twisted smirk. She then saw some blood spilled before the leader promptly dropped dead. All of his followers were shock but anger overrode their commonsense as they quickly rushed forward to attack the Black Cat. The masked man seemed to have expected this as he quickly prepared for the attack, falling into a fighting stance.

As all of the bandits attack the Black Cat, Mikan saw the chance to escape. Her wrists were the only things tied behind her back and she knew, with great effort she would be able to stand up and run away. And she did just that.

It was really hard at first but when she had mustered what strength she had left and a much needed adrenaline rush came to her aid, she was able to sprint out of there. Of course, running into the woods blindly and at night was no easy task. She still could hear the sounds of the battle which should have made her go faster but alas, it did exactly the opposite. Her legs completely stopped moving and an overwhelming feeling took over her – guilt.

Why? That was the only question running through her mind at the moment. She may be kind but she was not dumb. Yes, he might have been known to be a dangerous man and had slaughtered thousands but he showed up when she was in desperate need of help though he wasn't really aware of it. The odds were at least 20:1. Even if he was a very skilled fighter, he can't be all of them. He was sure to lose.

Fighting the urge to bang her own head against the tree, she grudgingly went back to the battle site. But of all the things she had expected, it never entered her mind to see the infamous Black Cat breathing haggardly, one hand clutching his side which was covered in blood and the other was… holding the mask. All of the bandits were on the floor, either unconscious or dead. She was surprised to found out that she didn't care.

She knew she was staring. Who wouldn't? As far as she knew, no one has ever seen the Black Cat unmasked. People just assumed he was young because of his steady built and agility. And they were right, for standing before her was a raggedly handsome man. Chiseled face, small but sharp nose, thin lips and crimson eyes framed by scrunched up brows was there to be seen in all its glory. Even if his face was almost like her own – bruise and battered, he was still very good looking.

Mentally, she kicked herself for thinking such thoughts. He was injured for goodness sakes! And here she was – wait! Injured? That made her snap back to reality. He needed medical help as soon as possible. The blood that was pouring out of his side was not to be taken lightly. Fortunately, she was an apprentice and a good one at that so she didn't need to go cry out for help. Suddenly, the danger of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks. SHE was going to go near an infamous killer, who, even in his situation could kill her without a second thought.

Regaining some of her lost commonsense, she weighed the pros and cons of the two things she could do. First, she could turn back and leave him to bleed to death and that should not bother her since he killed a lot of people. She sighed grimly. She knew it will. Her dream was to be a medic and she promised herself to try her hardest not to let people around her die. The Black Cat was not an exception, plus the fact that she also, in someway, owed her freedom to him even if it was only by chance.

This train of thought is leading to her second option – the option which was less appealing to her. She could approach him, and hope for some miracle that he would not kill her once she finished healing him. She shook her head vigorously. She would be killed. He was a murderer and no amount of gratitude from him could save her life if he wanted to take it away. She shivered slightly at the thought of becoming one of the dead. She was still young, in the ripe age of 18 and the sight of her body among those that lay on the Black Cat's feet was something horribly frightening. That thought alone made her step back – unintentionally stepping on a stray twig.

The sound caused her whole body to run cold when she realized she was not exactly hidden and could be easily seen if the Black Cat would turn his head ever so slightly – which he did. His whole body tensed up and his head snapped to where she was. Crimson eyes met amber. At that moment, she knew the Black Cat had her whole image imprinted into his mind. He was staring at her so intently, so seriously. Her messy long auburn hair, swollen frightened eyes and her petite form. She was also already shaking with fear, wondering what could she had been thinking to go back here when she had a perfectly good chance to escape.

He was still staring at her… almost curiously when suddenly, he straightened and a sinister smile appeared on his handsome face.

"I'm giving you three seconds little girl."

Mikan didn't need to be told twice as she bolted out of there.

To be continued…

"**Yes, I'm perfectly aware that I haven't updated Toying with Love but I will. I just don't know when this stupid writer's block gets out of my head. So in the meantime, enjoy this story that has been playing in my mind for a while. Thanks for reading! Please review!"**

**-Sakura Diaries**


	2. The Debt

**A Price to Pay**

**By Sakura Diaries**

**Chapter One: The Debt**

"Mikan, can you get that?" Mrs. Sakura said as she motioned Mikan to answer the door. It was an early crisp fall morning and both mother and daughter were cooking breakfast. Mikan's father was in their backyard, chopping some wood with her older brother, Tsubasa. Mikan nodded and stopped peeling the potato. She walked towards the door and opened it with a bright smile on her face. Her smile disappeared as quickly as she opened the door, for standing there was the Black Cat – his mask nowhere to be seen.

"Yo-you!" Mikan's eyes widened with fear as she took in his appearance. His raven hair was still quite messy, but his handsome face was without a scratch. Unlike her, who, even after three weeks, still had marks on her already not so pretty face. A smirk graced his sly lips as he whispered, "Nice to see you again, little girl."

She froze when she heard his voice. He was in no doubt real. A few moments earlier she thought he was just a figment of her imagination like the many nightmares that accompanied her every night after that incident. Him coming back to kill her was no exception.

"Mikan, is that Himiko? Can you tell her to wait for a moment?" her mother's voice rang out to where she and her…visitor were but she dared not open her mouth. There was a very good chance of her screaming that a fearsome killer was at her doorstep if she let her voice do the talking so she just stood there frozen in spot. What the hell was she going to do now? She can't scream bloody murder for she was sure her life would end just there and then but she couldn't let him in and risk her family's safety. Hell, this was a lose-lose situation whichever way she looked at it.

She breathed deeply and looked at him in the eyes. He was still staring at her with an eerie smirk on his face and she bit back the urge to cower under her bed. She was not going to back down even if her life was at stake but when she opened her mouth to speak, no sound came out. It seems that her body still hadn't followed her mind's suit.

After a few moments, she finally found her voice, she asked hesitantly but firmly, "Wha-what do you want?"

He ignored her question and glared at her. "Well aren't you even going to let me in?" He rolled his eyes. "So much for courtesy."

Mikan didn't have a chance to react as her mother came waltzing into the living room where she and the Black Cat was in.

"Mikan, dear, why didn-" Her mother paused for a moment when she saw the young man beside her daughter. At that moment, Mikan was ready to make a run for it but her mother just gave the Black cat a sweet smile, which the Black Cat, in her shock, gave in return. Then her mother looked at her expectantly; apparently, she did not appear to notice that she was covered in cold sweat.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me to this fine young man?"

Mikan badly wanted to kick, scream, anything to get the murderer outside of this house but her lack of mobility deemed it impossible.

"Erm, mom this is, this is…" _Well, what was she supposed to say?_

"Natsume Hyuuga, at your service ma'am." He supplied smoothly. Mikan watched in absolute horror as Natsume took her mother's hand and kissed it. Her mother was no doubt charmed and by a killer no less.

"Well Hyuuga-san, nice to meet you," her mother said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Are you my daughter's boyfriend?" she asked rather frankly in a more hopeful voice than Mikan should have heard.

Natsume then gave another charming smile that if Mikan didn't know he was the Black Cat could have made her heart stop, but what followed definitely did.

"Hopefully I am, Mrs. Sakura." If Mikan wasn't so busy picking up her jaw on the floor, she would have noticed that her mother was certainly whipped and was planning their wedding as tiny hearts began appearing in her eyes.

"Oh wonderful, wonderful!" Mrs. Sakura said as she clapped her hands together. "I really thought my daughter was becoming some sort of a tomboy but finally, she was able to land herself a man, a very handsome man I might add! Oh, I just have to tell your father about this! He would be so pleased!" And without another word, Mrs. Sakura left them. Alone. Together. Them.

Mikan's life had gone haywire. She concluded as she stared at the crimson-eyed murderer. He was now sitting on the only couch in the living room and there she was, still by the door, and not daring to move an inch closer. To say she was shocked by the sudden turn of events was a big understatement.

"Well, are you just going to stand there all day idiot?" Mikan felt compelled to insult back but not only was it against her nature, she was dealing with an assassin so she did the next best thing.

"A-are you going to k-kill m-me?" she whispered pitifully. She was scared and was not embarrassed to show it. After all, after what she had heard she had every right to be.

Natsume rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry little girl. I'm not here to kill you or your family." He assured her but that doesn't mean it made Mikan any less apprehensive. "Though I have to say I'm quite surprised. You still haven't told them to run for it."

Mikan resisted the urge to give a sarcastic remark. Of course she wouldn't, or _couldn't_ would be the more appropriate word because not only was he standing right in front of them but she hadn't actually told anyone about what happened to her. When she went home that night, her excuse was that she stumbled while picking up the herbs needed. It was not so unusual to have a few scratches if one were to come out from the woods so she just had to came up with a good story to cover up for her badly battered body. But why she didn't want them to know? Simple – it would be a waste of time. Their problems were already too much too handle and adding an infamous killer to it would make them break.

"I'm here for a favor. Well not exactly a favor because you're going to do it no matter what." He continued, pulling Mikan back to reality but before she could question him, her whole family came coursing through the door.

"Honey, Tsubasa," her mother started brightly, not noticing she had intruded or the murderous intent her only son was giving off. "This is Mikan's boyfriend, Natsume."

When Mikan first introduced Natsume, she expected her family to be mad at her and not because he was a deranged killer, simply because he's a man and she's well, a girl, barely 18. Plus the fact that she was not known to befriend men a lot, and now that she thinks about it, the only guys she ever associated herself with was her father, brother and the doctor. And they are all either related or way too old for her. But as luck would have it, her brother was the only normal one in her family.

"What do you mean he's Mikan's boyfriend?" Her brother all but screamed. Mikan never knew her brother could turn into different shades until now.

"Hello, I'm Mikan's father, nice to meet you." Her so called father greeted warmly, completely ignoring her brother's outburst, and offered his hand.

Natsume looked at it suspiciously for a moment before taking it with the same warmness. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Sakura." He paused for a moment and nodded to her brother who was still fuming but refused to speak.

"His name's Tsubasa," Mrs. Sakura said, glaring at her son. "I'm sorry; he seems to be in a bad mood."

"It's no problem." Natsume assured her mother.

* * *

The tension between the two young men can be cut with a knife. They were all sitting in the small dining table, eating quietly. It was unusual for them to be this quiet but one won't need sight to see that her brother didn't like her so called _boyfriend._ But that was to say, natural since it was his job and whatever her brother was thinking about Natsume probably was right on the spot.

Mikan was about to open her mouth, to say something, anything. She wasn't used to silence and it was beginning to become increasingly difficult to breathe and not only that, Natsume seem to bask in her uncomfortable state since he kept on staring at her but before she could have done that, her brother beat her to it.

"Watch it, Hyuuga. That's my little sister you're mentally undressing." Tsubasa growled and gave the new visitor a cutting glare.

Natsume smirked. "I won't have to. I'm going to marry her anyway."

The clashing of metal resounded throughout the quiet neighborhood.

To be continued…

"**Now, I know the question running through your head at the moment. _Why the hell does he want to marry her?_ Simple, you'll find out in the next chapter so please review. Pretty please. And thanks for the reviews I got for the prologue, I'm so happy about that! Please keep on reviwing!"**

**-Sakura Diaries**


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